View source for Software:AutoShade

[[File:Clothespin, renderered in AutoShade.gif|frame|right|AutoShade 3D Rendering.]]
'''AutoShade''' was an early 3D rendering package for use with [[Software:AutoCAD|AutoCAD]]. [[Company:Autodesk|Autodesk]] developed Autoshade in 1987. It became obsolete after the release of Autodesk's 3D Studio.

==Description==
AutoShade was a [[Engineering:DOS|DOS]] application. Autodesk developed it to produce realistic shaded renderings of 3D face objects made by their [[Engineering:Computer-aided design|CAD]] program, AutoCAD.  It simulated various types of lights&mdash;spot, point, and infinite directional.  To create a rendering, a person:
* Made an AutoCAD Drawing file containing 3D faces
* Placed AutoShade light and camera blocks
* Used an AutoShade-provided [[AutoLISP]] application  to export 3D faces, camera blocks, and lighting blocks to a ''scene'' file
* Opened the scene file in AutoShade and rendered the image

==Files==
AutoShade wrote the rendering to an .RND file. In the first version, the .RND file was a 2D [[Vector graphics|vector]] file, importable into applications such as [[Software:Adobe Illustrator|Adobe Illustrator version 4]].  Later, when Autodesk added [[Gouraud shading]], the .RND could also be a [[Raster graphics|raster]] file.

Autodesk developed an application called Flimaker for MS-DOS, which converted .RND files into a format usable in [[Software:Autodesk Animator|Autodesk Animator]].  This could be used, in conjunction with AutoFlix, to create rudimentary 3D animations from AutoCAD source material.

==Demise==
Though the final version of AutoShade supported RenderMan extensions, Autodesk never developed it into a full rendering application.  Even with AutoFlix, it did not support keyframing or hierarchical kinematics. When [[Company:Autodesk|Autodesk]] released 3D Studio, the need for AutoShade ended, since 3D Studio was far superior in technology and in ease of use.

==External links==
*[http://www.fourmilab.ch/autofile/www/subsectionstar2_68_0_6.html Fourmilab Autofile]

[[Category:3D graphics software]]
[[Category:Computer-aided design software]]


{{Sourceattribution|AutoShade}}